Learning to Trust

Alternative Title: Why We Decided Not to Have a Follow-Up Ultrasound

If any of you were reading my Coach’s Wife blog, you probably read that at our 20 week ultrasound, Bambino measured perfectly and was healthy, but two Choroid Plexus Cysts (CPC’s) showed up on his brain.

You also read then how I reacted badly to this news, freaked out, and then calmed down about it once I talked to my Dr. several more times and did some research.

After the 20 week ultrasound, it was my first thought to have a follow-up ultrasound several weeks later to see for myself that the CPC’s had gone away. My Dr. was supportive of that, but did not encourage it in a “medically necessary” fashion. He just understood what it was like to be a nervous first-time Mom. He also warned me that while CPC’s go away 100% of the time, when they go away is up in the air. We could very easily still have them show up on this follow-up ultrasound too, which would be scheduled for when I’m 24 weeks along.

So we got referred to Northwest Perinatal, scheduled our follow-up ultrasound and were told the following:

*This follow-up would be an extensive, 2-hour long ultrasound coupled with an Echo (heart) ultrasound to re-measure Bambino extensively to ensure us again that his measurements were normal.

*We would then meet with a Genetic Counselor to go over the results. Since this is the type of ultrasound couples have when they actually have something concerning come up on their 20 week ultrasound, you pull out the big guns… Genetic Counseling.

*They did not have appointments late in the afternoon, which meant Neal could either not go with me to this appointment, or would have to miss a whole day of school. I would have to miss more than half a day of work because of the length of appointment, which cuts into my banked maternity leave time.

*This ultrasound is the most extensive this clinic offers, and the bill would be just shy of $2000.

$2000.

Yikes.

So Neal and I talked about it….. and we decided, we are not going to have this follow-up. There were many reasons why that helped us make this decision:

*Bambino’s measurements on the 20 week scan were 100% normal, healthy and perfect. His heart was perfect, his limbs were perfect, his stomach/digestion was perfect, and his kidneys were perfect, etc.

*Our Dr. told us (or more like me) no less than a dozen times, that since his measurements were perfect, his CPC’s meant NOTHING and would absolutely, positively, go away.

*CPC’s do not affect a baby’s development, knowledge, skills, language or anything else in any way, shape or form.

*From my research online I read hundreds of comments from Mom’s whose babies had CPC’s come up on their ultrasounds and every single story said something along the lines of “CPC’s showed up on my scan, they went away.. I now have an extremely bright, smart, healthy baby/toddler/child.” Every.Single.Story. (and trust me, I spent HOURS reading every single one).

 

So there were all the positive sides of this issue. The follow-up ultrasound was really just for my “I’m a nervous Mom-to-be” peace of mind, but we decided it wasn’t worth the time, the stress, and the cost to go and have this ultrasound just to be told (again) what we already know- that our baby is fine. And what if the CPC’s were still there? Then nothing would have changed and we would have gone through all of that unnecessarily.

I feel in my heart that there is nothing to worry about and that there was never anything to worry about… I was just shocked and scared when I first got the news about the CPC’s, but now that almost 4 weeks has passed and I've learned more about them, I’ve really calmed down.

So we’ll chalk this up to being the “first time Bambino scared the sh** out of his Mom.” J And I’m sure there will be many more times to come in this little man’s life…

And I got my first big lesson in being a Mom.

I learned to trust.

Trust my Doctor.

Trust my instinct and my gut.

Trust my heart.

Trust in God.

And I know I won’t be let down.

Our little trouble-maker